Umbrella.



y B. E. CUNDIFF.

UMBRELLA.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 31 l9l6- Patented Mar. 6, 1917.

g] WWW/30% BENJAMIN EUGENE CUNDIFF, 0F HALLOWELL, KANSAS.

UMBRELLA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lviar. e, 1917.

Application filed June 3, 1916. Serial No. 101,568.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN E. CUN- DIFF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hallowell, in the county of Cherokee and State of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Umbrellas, of which The opposite longitudinal edges of these the following is a specification.

This invention relates to umbrellas'and has particular application to a folding umbrella. vention resides in the provision of a device of this character having sectional telescopic ribs and a sectional staff whereby the umbrella may be collapsed or folded into compact form to facilitate the transporting of the same from place to place.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of this character having means for locking the telescopic ribs in extended position and thus preventing the accidental telescoping of the ribs when in active position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of this character which contains the desirable features of simplicity, efiiciency and durability and furthermore a device which may be conveniently applied to an iunbrella of any common construction lgvitlhout giving additional weight to the umre la.

Other objects of the invention will ap-- pear as the specification is read in connec-' tion with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view of an umbrella constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view of the umbrella collapsed or closed.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of one of the ribs and its connection with one of the stays.

Fig. 4: is a transverse section of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings in detail, my invention comprises a staff A which is formed of two sections, 1 and 2 respectively, the section 2 being provided with a screw threaded extension 3 whichis adapted to lie within a screw threaded socket 4 formed on the adjacent end of the section 1 whereby the sections may be detached to permit the slhortening of the staff as will be under- St00.

Pivotally mounted upon the staff A are my improved form of ribs generally indicated as at B to which are pivotally con- The chief characteristic of this in-' nected the stays C. In this embodiment of my invention I have shown theribs B each formed of two sections 5 and 6 respectively, the latter section 6 being formed of a single sheet of material'bent longitudinally upon itself in substantially cylindrical formation.

sections 6 are arranged in parallel spaced relation to each other to provide the longitudinally extending slot 7, the outer end of the slot terminating rearwardly of the outer end of the section whereupon the section is compressed as at 8 and provided with the transversely extending opening 9. The cover of the umbrella is secured to these sections 6 by means of the stitching which is adapted to pass through the opening 9 as is the usual way of securing the cover to the ribs. the rib is formed of a single length of material which has its inner end pivotally mounted'upon the staff in the usual manner while its lower end is adaptedto extend into the section 6 as is clearly shown in the drawings. The lower end of the section 5 is provided with a laterally extending stud 10 which is adapted to ride in the slot 7 thus causing both ofthe sections to assume their proper position with relation to their connection with the coverand stafi respec tively whereby accidental turning of the ribs will be prevented. The inner end of the section 6 has rigidly mounted thereupon a bracket 11 which is of substantially U- shaped formation, the free ends of which terminate in alined cars 12. This bracket 11 is adapted to snugly engage or partially encircle the inner end of the section 6, the ears 12 receiving a shaft 13 upon which is pivotally'mounted the bifurcated end 14 of the stay C. The opposite ends of the stays C are pivotally secured to the movable collar in the usual manner.

The bracket 11 further serves to securely retain a spring clip 15 upon the inner end of the section 6, the clip extending longitudinally of the section and overlying the slot 7. This spring clip 15 is formed of a single piece of resilient metal which has its lower end provided with an opening 16, the latter being so positioned as to receive the stud 10 when the sections are in extended position. Owing to the resiliency of the clip, it will securely hold the stud 10 within the opening 16 and thus prevent longitudinal movement of the section 5, the free end The inner or upper section 5 of of the clip being slightly flared outwardly to permit the lifting of the clip to remove the stud when it is desired to collapse the rib as will be understood.

hen it is desired to collapse the umbrella so that the same will occupy a minimum amount ofspace and thereby permit the same to be conveniently transported from place to place, the section 2 of the stait is unscrewed and removed thus shortening the length of the staff as will be understood. The studs 10 are now removed from the openings 16 of the clips whereby the sections 5 and 6 are telescoped one within the other. This causes the'ribs to occupy about one-half the space that they originally did and thus permits the frame to be collapsed so as to smlgly engage the stall It willv be understood that the cover carried by the ribs will also be folded upon itself so that both the ribs and cover will not extend beyond the section 1 ol the statl A. It will thus be seen that I have provided simple and eflicient means for causing the umbrella to assume a relatively small space w iereby it may be readily packed within a suitcase or trunk and the usual bunglesomeness eliminated;

It is thought from the foregoing taken in Copies of this patent may be obtained for connection with the accompanying drawings that the constructlon and operation of my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art without further description, and that minor changes in size, shape, proportion and minor details of construction may be made Without departing from the-spirit and scope of the appended claim. 7

What I claim is:

In combination, a rib comprising sections, one of said sections being hollow and formed with a longitudinally extending slot, the remaining section being slidably mounted within the first section, a stud formed on said remaining section and riding in said slot, a substantially U-shaped bracket secured to the inner end of the hollow section and partially encircling the same, the free ends Of the bracket extending laterally from said section, a spring clip interposed between the bracket and the hollow section and having one end thereof overlying said slot and formed with an opening to receive said stud, and a stay having a bifurcated end pivotally mounted between the free ends of said bracket.

In testimony whereof I alliX- my signature.

BENJAMIN EUGENE CUNDIFF.

Washington, I). C. 

